From the Future...To the Ashes
by ShootinSta
Summary: The disappearance of Hoshi Sato caused the destruction of the Enterprise and humanity in 2152...^Update^ COMPLETE. The timeline is changed once again with a simple course adjustment. Will it save the crew and restore the timeline, or end it all again?
1. From the Future

I don't own any characters you might be familiar with. I have no earthly idea how to make money off this, either. 

Anything that went on in the past will be in _italics_.

*********

"Where the hell is Hoshi?" Captain Jonathan Archer screamed over the rumblings of his ship. Fires were sparking up everywhere, and the ship was being rocked by enemy weapons every few seconds.

"I can't find her lifesign, Captain. She's disappeared." T'Pol's voice could barely be heard over the sound of creaking metal and fire extinguishers. 

"Who the hell is firing on us?"

"Our databases are down, Captain. I can't recognize the configuration without a better look at the ship." More enemy fire fell upon the _Enterprise. _An explosion destroyed the science station Sub-Commander T'Pol was working at, sending the Vulcan flying from her post and thudding against a nearby wall. Lieutenant Malcolm Reed rushed from tactical and set two fingers on her neck. Rivulets of green came pouring down his arm. The Vulcan's skull was split open. 

A grim look came over his already solemn face as he looked up at Archer. "Captain, she's dead."

Mayweather turned around from his station, trying hard not to show all the fear he was feeling, "Captain…Engines are down. I can get warp to respond, and impulse drive is completely shot. I can't retreat and evasive maneuvers are out of the question. I can't do a thing."

Reed had jumped from T'Pol's body to the com station. It was obvious that station, too, was down. He was slamming his fists down on it, repeatedly calling it a "Bloody useless piece of shit."

Archer's head spun with the extent of the damage done to his ship. He shouted an order for Reed to get back to his post. It wasn't much use for the armory officer to be there. Targeting scanners were down, all weapons systems were offline, the torpedo launchers were damaged and the phase cannons had been shot off one by one and the hull plating was nonexistent. Hell, he wasn't even sure how well sensors were working. They were sitting ducks, unless by some miracle, engines could be brought online.

"Archer to Tucker!"

"Tucker here, Cap'n! Before you even ask, I can't do a damn thing! Three-fourths of my staff is dead, the anti-matter containment field is failing, there are hull breeches all over the damn place, our impulse drive has literally exploded and every useful console is either not workin' or is on fire!" 

"Do whatever you can for the engines, Trip. We won't take much more of this. Archer out." Commander Tucker never would get a chance to do anything for the engines. At that moment, an enemy torpedo hit the engineering section. A few minutes later the ship shuddered. Archer's attention went immediately to tactical.

Lieutenant Reed's voice cracked as he read off the sensors. "Captain, the hull in engineering's just collapsed and the entire section has decompressed into space. Everyone but Commander Tucker made it out. But radiation's starting to leak into that deck, sir…. Anyone on that deck…"

"Thank you, Mister Reed! Send a message to all remaining crewmembers to get to the escape pods. That includes you and Ensign Mayweather." 

"Captain, I have to stay with you…" Reed was sending out the message, but stayed firmly set at his post. Mayweather didn't seem to want to leave, either. Archer's hands clenched the arms on his captain's chair. 

"Reed, get the hell out of my sight!" 

"Captain – " Mayweather's sentence slowly faded away over a roar.

Lieutenant Reed, Ensign Mayweather and Captain Archer would never argue further on that subject. Enemy ships fired on the exposed warp core, engulfing the _Enterprise_ in an anti-matter explosion that destroyed the ship in a matter of seconds. Two escape pods were launched from the ship. Both were used as target practice. The eighty-one humans, one Vulcan, one Denobulan, and one little beagle onboard were killed in one short-lived battle. 

*********

Official records state that Ensign Hoshi Sato disappeared in late 2152, during a vital mission to negotiate peace on a hostile alien planet. With her disappearance, the mission failed and the race she was negotiating with opened fire on her ship. The NX-01 _Enterprise_, the first commissioned warp-five vessel in the history of Earth, was destroyed. Her mission failed, the Vulcan High Command lost faith in human endeavors and left the planet. As far as is known, they never check to see if humans had advanced without them. They hadn't.

Enemy ships that Sato was negotiating immediately proceeded to Earth once the Vulcans had left. Earth was unprepared for attack. All orbital defenses were destroyed in the first wave. All starships in Sector 001 were destroyed or boarded by the enemy. A crushing military defeat of all Earth's ground, water, and air forces was accomplished in less than two days. Earth, as well as the colonies on Mars, were conquered. The enemy, the Suliban, then enslaved the human race within the month. 

A few cargo vessels were all that was left of the free humans, and they joined together to set up a colony on Rujio, a destination far from all trading routes and Suliban interests. They had little luck in creating starships as powerful as the Suliban's, their scientists only managing to achieve a warp three engine. Nine hundred years later, however, they had much success in creating time-warping devices. Federation timeships appeared. 

But someone allowed these items to fall into the wrong hands. This man would cause the Suliban to become a hugely powerful race in the year 2151 that would later lead to the _Enterprise's_, then Starfleet's, then mankind's untimely demise the following year. 

And this man's was helped by someone from the past. A person who was none other than Hoshi Sato herself.


	2. To the Ashes

I don't own any characters you might be familiar with. I have no earthly idea how to make money off this, either. 

Anything that went on in the past will be in _italics_.

And remember. We like feedback. Yes. Feedback good.

*********

She could've had anything the wanted, a Hirogen pack of her own, the Klingon Empire, the Cardassian's space station 'Terok Nor' and that damn wormhole; Hoshi Sato could have had anything she wanted in the entire universe. But she still she was unhappy. Guilty, was actually more the right word. She had watched her ship be destroyed hundreds of times, all because she was standing there in the future. She had heard Commander Tucker's last order for everyone to get out of the engineering section while he tried to stabilize the warp core and repair the growing hull breech in the same instant. His battle with the hull breech was lost, and engineering decompressed, leaving the chief engineer to die in space. She had watched as Dr. Phlox treated wave of casualty after casualty and tried to save as many people as possible even as fires destroyed sickbay. And yes, she had even seen Archer's last wish to 'go down with the ship' and his two remaining bridge officers' loyalty to stay with him. They were all _heroes. _

And what was she? The coward who was the only survivor of the tragedy because she'd been transported right into the future. The only reason she had even been sent into the future was so that the Enterprise could be destroyed. Not that it had mattered. The Temporal Cold War was still raging. 

She remembered her mission clearly. She was supposed to negotiate with a race on the planet Ysus. The only problem was the planet wasn't inhabited by anything more than insects and baboons. A small population of Suliban was there instead. She was rushing to warn the crew of what she found, when they found her.

*

__

I have to tell the Captain_, the thought kept crossing Hoshi's mind as she ran through the underbrush towards the shuttle. _I have got to tell the Captain! 

_It was all a trap. The Suliban were here to destroy _Enterprise_. She'd heard them talking about the Temporal Cold War…And how it would end with the ship destroyed. She couldn't let that happen. She had to warn the Captain! Tell him to get away from the planet, with or without her. Her communicator had stopped working the moment she tried to use it. The shuttlepod was her last hope._

She scrambled into the shuttle, not noticing that the ensign who'd piloted the ship had disappeared. In her panic, she'd failed to think. She scrambled to the com and rapidly began punching the buttons so she could contact Enterprise_. Her eyes widened. The com wasn't working. None of the systems were working, not com, not helm, nothing! The ship was completely powered down. She couldn't even fly the ship back to _Enterprise.

__

Hoshi looked around the shuttlepod desperately. That's when she noticed the pilot laying in a bloody heap in the far corner. She gasped. Then a Suliban materialized right in front of her.

"Hoshi Sato…You've seen something you shouldn't. We cannot allow you to warn your crew of this."

"I have to! They can't be killed. Let me leave!"

The Suliban's yellow eyes glimmered. "Yes, they can die. We need them to perish so we can end the cold war."

"No. They're innocent. They have nothing to do with your war!" She was pleading. Those people were her friend; her family, they couldn't just die_. _

"You're coming with me, Hoshi…Don't be frightened."

But when the Suliban pressed a small device and a swirl of space-time came around, she was frightened. Damn, was she frightened.

*

Now she was here, nine hundred years in the future, a pawn for someone who wanted power over the universe. All that was left of her former life were memories, and the visions of Trip's selflessness, Captain Archer's loyalty to _Enterprise_, and the sacrifices of so many aboard that one ship. She had a holodisk…The holodisk of every crewmember's death, right in her quarters.

"Hoshi. We need you for something." She heard Silik's voice. The Suliban always was the middleman between his leader and all the others. Even in the 31st century that was true. She temporarily forgot her thoughts of the _Enterprise_ and responded to the Suliban.

"What is it, Silik?" 

The Suliban walked down the hall toward her. "We need you to do something. Something important."

Important? Well, that was new. "What do you need?"

"We're sending you back to the _Enterprise_." 

Hoshi's world fell apart. She was going back? She couldn't. Going back there after causing its destruction…It would be like seeing the people she _murdered! _"You are? W-Why?" 

"There's someone trying to stop this timeline from happening. This needs to be stopped. So we're putting you in the real Hoshi Sato's place aboard the _Enterprise_ to find this person. You'll have a scanner to find temporal anomalies…And hopefully subdue whatever device they're using. We suspect it's someone from a Federation timeship." 

"Oh…When do I have to leave?" Hoshi had no choice but to accept. She had few enough duties as it was. They'd probably kill her if she didn't take the position. The Suliban weren't known for their kindness and loyalty towards their people. 

"Now." 

Hoshi was handed a small, circular scanner. Silik began tapping a small device attached to his arm. Hoshi felt the rush of space-time rush past her in a dizzying wave. But maybe it wasn't the wave that was making her mind swim, but a stunning fact she never thought would happen. She was going back to _Enterprise_…

*

_When she materialized, nearly nine hundred years in the future, Hoshi was terrified. Her top priority was still to warn the Captain of the Suliban trap. She had no idea just where she had been taken. She could see the Suliban that had abducted her. Something that looked like a hologram was playing on a table before her. It was the _Enterprise's_ final moments. The ship exploded in an array of light, escape pods were destroyed, bodies vaporized…_

She screamed. 

She was supposed to be there! She was supposed to warn the Captain. Instead she was…who knows where, watching them die! They were dying because of her. Because she hadn't warned Captain Archer. It was all her fault; if she had only gotten back to Enterprise_, if she had gotten to the shuttlepod before the Suliban…_

First she tried to attack the hologram. Pleaded with it to stop. It couldn't be true, she had told herself. But it was true.

Hoshi had stayed in the quarters the Suliban had given her for weeks after she had seen that, sometimes just watching the destruction of her ship from every point of view possible: Trip's, the Captain's, Dr. Phlox's; even the pregnant crewmember who'd managed to get to an escape pod. Even after she had left her room, she was never comfortable with her role that had made the future what it was, she still watched the hologram. She gradually gained more respect with Silik, keeping a role that didn't include having her killed on a useless mission…

*


	3. Living Memories

I own not a one of these characters. Nope. Not a one. 

Thank y'all folks for some feedback!

"Hoshi? You okay?" Trip's voice cut into her thoughts. 

"Trip?" Seeing the commander again was…shocking, to say the very least. But she couldn't act like a fool. She didn't need anyone suspicious. The last thing she needed was to be carted off to sickbay.

"You zoned out on me, you okay?"

Hoshi nodded. She could barely get her bearings, trying to shove the thought out of her mind that Trip was dead, frozen lifeless in space. In this timeframe he was alive…A grin crossed her face. They all were alive. And she was talking to Trip again. "I'm just preoccupied. What were you saying?"

"So Crewman Cutler was tellin' Malcolm that Dr. Phlox had a couple of wives, and he got the _funniest_ look on his face, and I swear, he disconnected the wrong circuit and was right about knocked unconscious by an overload! It was the funniest thing. You shoulda seen it!"

"I wish I could've been there, Trip." Her grin widened, realizing how much she missed that southern accent of Trip's. She missed so much… She glanced around her surroundings and took and a second to realize that she was in the mess hall. She glanced down at the plate before her. Ravioli. It had been ages since she'd eaten human food. She took a quick bite before glancing back up at Trip. "Anything else going on?" 

"Nope. Not a damn thing. Wish we could find some planet, though."

"Don't be so quick to jump on some planets, Trip. What you find might not be something good." Stopping at one in particular will be the end of your career in a millisecond. A slight shudder went through her

Trip raised one eyebrow, shoving a bite of food into his mouth before standing up. "Well, Hoshi, I gotta run down to engineering. We've been havin' problems with the anti-matter injectors."

"See you later."

"Let's do this again sometime, alright, Hoshi?" His reply confused her, but he was out the door before Hoshi had a chance to reply. She tried to remember having any other meals with Trip. They had had a dinner date. He was going to come to her room so she could cook him something…a steak on the hotplate in her quarters. He said Chef's cooking just wasn't quite like real home cooking. She remembered they'd set the date to a day after…

Hoshi coughed and stood up from her chair, trying to get the memories from her mind. She was had to work, not brood… She quietly took the small scanner from her pocket and glanced down at it as she walked from the mess hall. Nothing, no anomalies of any kind. She paused for a moment, trying to remember which way was to the bridge. Only now did she remember how confusing navigating the ship could be. And if anyone caught her looking at a map of the ship, they'd think she was insane.

After taking a few wrong turns at first, she finally managed to get to the bridge. She paused the moment the 'lift doors opened, staring at the surroundings she thought she'd never see again. Her station, the captain, Mayweather…It all was unbelievable to see again.

"Ensign? Can we help you?" A voice…Archer! Hoshi stepped into the bridge and slowly made her way towards her station.

"I just thought I'd come in for duty."

Lieutenant Reed turned towards her, looking a little confused. "Your shift doesn't start for another two hours."

She'd forgotten about her shifts. She'd probably have to be on time tomorrow… "I wanted to get some work done."

No one seemed to think that was odd, and she was otherwise ignored by the rest of the bridge crew. Her eyes scanned from person to person, reveling in all that she had missed. She gently ran her hands over the console in front of her. Familiarizing herself with the controls wouldn't be difficult. She daydreamed about being back at this post again almost every day.

"Captain," Hoshi's head snapped up at the sound of Ensign Mayweather's voice, "Someone's changing our course."

T'Pol also looked up from her station, adding something to this news, "It appears they're making a distinct effort to take the planet Ysus Prime out of our trajectory, Captain."

Hoshi slipped off the bridge as quickly and quietly as possible. Scanner in hand, she walked down the corridors following a signature that didn't match the timeframe. Her tracking lead her to E Deck. She arrived just in time to hear the 'whoosh' of doors closing and the sound of running. And the sound was coming right in her direction.


	4. Murmurs in the Dark

I don't own any characters you might be familiar with. I have no earthly idea how to make money off this, either.

Anything that went on in the past will be in _italics._

Such a choppy, choppy thing. Review if you want.

__

*********

Hoshi was knocked down by whoever had been fleeing from the room. There was a struggle for the ensign to get back onto her feet and turn to face the intruder.

"Stop…!" But the moment she turned to look at the culprit there was a shimmering blue wave and the figure were gone. But in the brief glimpse she had seen, something looked familiar, but she couldn't think of what. She brushed the idea away as simply her imagination.

The ensign skeptically entered the room that the person had rushed from and looked at the nearest console. The power was routed from helm, and sure enough, they had changed the course to steer clear of Ysus. The reason the person had left was because they had cut power to the entire room. Hoshi quickly exited the area, just in time for Reed's security team to barge in.

She walked back towards the bridge, trying to figure out an excuse for her sudden absence. If she was going to keep this ship's destiny intact, she was going to have to try a good deal harder at finding that person.

*********

"Ensign, where'd you run off to?" Hoshi entered the bridge to hear Archer's voice question her for the second time that day. 

She waved a padd in the air, grinning weakly. "Sorry, Captain, I forgot some information in my quarters. I tried to tell you, but you were preoccupied with whoever was changing the course," she paused, "Didn't find the person anywhere, did you?"

"Not a bloody thing," Reed answered. The British officer's voice was a low growl. He set about going back to work and Hoshi quietly returned back to her station. Of course, they hadn't found the person. She'd seen who ever it was disappear before her very eyes. She couldn't very well tell the Captain that, though. She put on her earpiece; her hands still stroking console in front of her. 

"Captain, perhaps we should decrease speed so I can run a series of scans on Ysus Prime. This person must have had a reason to keep us away." T'Pol's suggestion shocked the ensign. That hadn't happened last time…How could this timeline change like that?

"Very well, Sub-Commander. Ensign, reduce speed for a bit."

Confusion plagued the linguist. Everything wasn't going like it was supposed to. Maybe they'd find the Suliban ships and change course… Could that happen? Silik had once told her that the past was unchangeable. But it had changed, ever so slightly.

The rest of her shift she was preoccupied in the matters of time, but still managed to devote herself to her work and Archer let her get off her shift two hours early. The ensign was still confused, however, wondering if it was possible to change time so easily. She was poking around some leftovers that she had cooked had cooked on her hotplate, lying on the couch in her quarters. 

"Trip!" Hoshi was surprised to find him standing at the door of her quarters. She especially wasn't dressed for the occasion. The moment she had gotten off duty, she'd changed into a robe and let her hair down. She was going to relax, not entertain guests! "What are you doing here?"

The engineer was obviously amused at the time he'd managed to find the ensign. "Well, ah, I wanted t'see when we could meet up for dinner again…You know, talk about work and what hilarious things our armory officer's done lately."

Hoshi stared. She didn't remember this conversation…And now she knew when exactly _not _to have the dinner. "You want to come in? I'm sure you don't want to stand there…"

He shook his head, eyes scanning over the woman's choice of dress again. "I think I'll wait out here. If someone saw me goin' into a room with you barely dressed, there'd be rumors everywhere."

"I would suppose so." A pause lingered in the air. An idea came to her. If time could change… "How about tomorrow, for dinner? After our shifts are over?"

A smile graced the commander's face, "Mess hall?"

"How about my quarters. I can cook you a steak or something on my hotplate."

"Steak sounds perfectly fine with me. See you tomorrow, Hoshi." He waved his hand as he walked down the corridor. The linguist watched him walk away until he rounded the corner and was gone. She then settled back down on her couch, a grin settling across her face. It might be good to spend _Enterprise's _last days doing things she always wished she could do.

*********

_She almost saw me_, a voice whispered in the darkness. _She can't see me now…But later she'll understand. She has all the time in the universe to understand…_

A figure sat, shrouded in the dark mists. The only light in the room was the dull glow of blue coming from a device in the stranger's hand. It was the future again, even further than the Suliban had taken Hoshi. A slender finger began to tap coordinates into the glowing mechanism. This person had a place to go, a time to be present for. 

_A minor tweak here…And I'll get what I need. What she needs to understand…_

There was the familiar gleam of blue washing over the figure that lit up the room, but not the shadow. 

_She'll understand…Soon. Soon..._ Murmurings as time and space swirled around…


	5. Charred

Thanks for all the reviews, folks!

*********

The following day, Hoshi was busily getting ready in her quarters. Earlier, she had seen Trip in the corridors and the two of them decided to go casual at the dinner. So now she had her hair down, wearing a white shirt and flowered skirt rather than her usual uniform. A mental checklist was going through her head. She'd set the table, put the steaks on the hotplate, made a little salad…

Everything was done, so she hoped. The ensign was a little rushed, having just an afternoon to prepare, but it was necessary. Within the week, the _Enterprise_ should reach Ysus Prime and meet its destiny. And she also had to catch whoever was tampering with the timeline, before the entire space-time continuum was thrown out of whack. Or, at least, that's what she thought would happen. The Suliban had always told her everything would be ruined if they changed the timeline. Temporal mechanics had always confused her. But that was beside the point. She had to make the best of her remaining time with _Enterprise_. 

While perfecting the napkins, Hoshi heard the door. With a quick once-over of herself, she sprinted to the entrance to her quarters. Trip stood there with a quirked grin on his face, in a long sleeved tan shirt and jeans. 

"I thought we were dressin' casual, Ensign." He stated with a raised brow once he looked over her skirt.

A soft heat went up over the linguist's face. She wanted to be a little dressy for the occasion... "I used to wear skirts all the time on Earth, _Commander_. I've barely even seen jeans worn in years, however." 

"Damn comfortable things. You should buy yourself a few pairs next time you're at Earth," The engineer leaned again the doorframe, "Am I allowed to come in?" 

"Sure. Even with those old clothes on…" Hoshi stepped aside and walked over to the hotplate. May as well be done enough…She pulled out two decent looking plates, which had been a task to find, and quickly placed the steaks and salad on each. She was all too aware of Trip watching her from the table.

"Here we are. I didn't have too much time to cook. I hope it's enough…"

The engineer was looking famished, shrugged as he looked at the plates. "That looks just about right."

Hoshi quietly sat down and began eating. This wasn't going to go too well if they didn't…talk a little more. After chewing a rather rare hunk of meat, she coughed and asked, "Lieutenant Reed done anything interesting today?"

"Nope. But T'Pol came by when I was workin' on a conduit. When she was done scolding me for somethin' or other, the conduit burst into flame. I really think those Vulcans have some psychic power they don't tell us about…"

Silence followed. Hoshi glanced at her plate, wondering what to talk about. Then was when she realized that she'd failed to put some glasses on the table. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure. Anything you got's perfectly fine th—"

"Thomas to Tucker." The com system rang out mid-sentence.

"Tucker here. This better be good, ensign, I'm busy."

There was a pause. "The warp engines are overloading. We can't do anything to stop it.

"I'll be right down. Tucker out." He glanced up at Hoshi before standing up, "I think I should be going."

The ensign also stood up, noticing that her scanner on the coffee table had begun flashing. Her 'friend' must be trying to stop the ship again. "I'll come with you."

The engineer didn't respond. He was out the door in about a second flat, with her right behind the moment she grabbed her scanner. Trip was walking so fast, however, that she had to struggle to keep up as he made his way towards engineering as quickly as possible. The moment they got there, there were questions being shot off in quick succession. The linguist barely even understood half the words spoken, but the scanner read that the person who had sabotaged the ship was somewhere near.

Sirens started blaring all over engineering. "Everyone get the hell out of here!" The commander's voice shouted over the commotion. The entire engineering crew and Hoshi quickly filed out of the section. Even when the doors were closed behind them, however, you could still here warnings and Trip's questions at the computer. Then, there was an explosion.

The staff of engineering rushed back into the engine room. Glancing back down at her device, Hoshi, too entered. The anomalies were still there. In the shadows of engineering she noticed someone. But she'd seen the person somewhere before. There was something…familiar. But when Hoshi looked closer, the figure disappeared.

That's when her eyes fell on Trip. He was laying in a heap near a sparking plasma conduit. Black and red burns covered his face and body, small trickles of blood pooling on the engineering floor. And though she was no doctor, she could tell he wasn't breathing. 


	6. Photonic Visitor

School is bogging me down. Never have a chance to update anymore…

*********

"Multiple broken bones, internal injuries, third degree plasma burns and a mild degree of electric shock. It's lucky Commander Tucker is still with us, to be sure."

Dr. Phlox's voice pounded in Hoshi's ears. She was on the verge of all-out panic. Trip was lying there, near death. They had thought he was dead back down in engineering, before Phlox had managed to arrive and restart his breathing. The engineer wasn't even stabilized and three hours had gone by. Now she'd never find out how their little date would go.

But her biggest concern was time. In the past history, Trip saved the lives of two dozen engineering crewmen when engineering decompressed. Even though those didn't make it…It still mattered to her that they had the tiniest chance of life. The Enterprise's destruction was in three days, and Trip was lying there in sickbay.

"Doctor? When will he recover?" The ensign had managed to find her voice, and it was shaky at the very best.

The Denobulan looked from some medical readouts to Hoshi, "It's hard to say. If he makes it, he'll need a week or two here and perhaps another week to rest in his quarters."

Worry raced across her mind. Two weeks, at _best_, was too long a wait for those crewmembers. 

"Any idea what happened in there?" Hoshi's voice cracked as she addressed the doctor. Disbelief, rather than mourning, clouded her mind. 

He walked around the biobed examining the patient, before the doctor finally looked up to respond, "I would suppose the plasma conduit snapped, swung into him and knocked him into a console…Though, it seems more likely there was a fight, looking at his injuries. But you said everyone had evacuated engineering, so that option is unlikely," he paused, "Now could you please return to whatever you were doing. Mr. Tucker doesn't need visitors at this moment."

Attacked. The word repeated itself in her mind over and over. Trip had been attacked by whoever was trying to change the ship's fate. The past was rapidly changing, when Silik had told her that was impossible. You couldn't change the past. And now, instead of being around to help those engineers, Trip was lying in sickbay in critical condition. 

She even missed something Captain Archer said about her clothes. She simply walked towards her quarters, ignoring everyone who passed by. But she couldn't ignore what was in her quarters.

*********

Silik was pacing in the ensign's room. Yellow-green skin darkened in the dimmed lights, flickering from the candles on the dining table. 

"You haven't stopped in the intruder yet." The Suliban's voice was harsh; cold. "You realize, the next time this person may just succeed in their mission."

Hoshi calmed her mind for the time being. Falling apart now, in front of her superior, wasn't a safe option. "Whoever it is disappears the moment I see them. I haven't even gotten a clear sight of the meddler. And also, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not here," he responded, proceeding to put his hand through the nearby table. "This is a hologram. Now, Sato, I would suggest getting your hands on whoever this is. We won't come out victorious in the Temporal Cold War if the opposition is any stronger. But if there is such a drastic change in the past, there won't be a future to go to; the space-time continuum will simply fall apart."

"But…Trip. That part of history's changed."

"He'll insist on going back to engineering during the battle. He'll do his part."

This seemed to faintly satisfy Hoshi, and seeing this, Silik began to shimmer away. "Get the intruder," he murmured as the hologram distorted, then flicked out, leaving the linguist alone in her quarters. Her hands shaking, she gradually began to clean up the half-eaten food on the table. Trip would be around to stop the warp core breech and let the crew live for a few moments more. 

If only there wasn't that nagging feeling that she wasn't content with how history was going, she'd be content.


	7. Torn Reasoning

I'm getting a little bored of this story. I'll try to finish it up, but it might take a while. Depends on what you folks reading this want.

*********

_One final jump. That's all I'll need before I succeed. _The shadowed figure's hands moved along the glowing device in hand. Pounding came from behind the soundly locked door, shouts and commands rising above the racket. _She'll see what I see. She'll understand. I will restore the _Enterprise…

The coordinates were set, and all was ready. As the shadows in the room lit up, the person's mutterings could still be heard. Mok nIbpoH…_ I will begin again…_

There was a crash from the doorway. A flicker of a smile came over the stranger's face as the wave of space-time surrounded them. A team of Suliban security officers was left, cursing their misfortune.

*********

The longest duty shift in Hoshi Sato's life had just gone painfully by. Trip was no better and the ship had increased speed towards Ysus Prime and the waiting Suliban vessels. If a hostile alien ship happened to jump out of warp, she'd never be able to translate a single word she was so distressed. She had two days, she hadn't found the intruder, and she was thinking that she didn't _want_ to help everyone on the Enterprise die. It seemed that the past, the past she remembered, was falling apart. Maybe, just maybe, it didn't matter if the past changed.

These thoughts weighed on the ensign's mind as she stepped into the lift. The doors were closing to bring her to the deck her quarters were on, when there was a slight shudder underneath her, followed by the sound of T'Pol's voice.

"Captain, the warp core is being jettisoned." 

That's when Hoshi knew her 'friend' was trying to stop the ship again. Within seconds, her scanning device was out and the lift was on its way towards engineering. But when she arrived there, the linguist didn't know what she would do. She could stop the intruder…And destroy _Enterprise_, or she could let the person go. Then her life for the past year would change.

A rough shake of her head dismissed these thoughts. She was insane to think that she could stop fate. _Enterprise_ had been destroyed once, and it would be again…It had to be like that. If only she could convince herself that was so.

The lift halted at the corridor outside of engineering. Her scanning device was showing that the intruder was nearby, but not in engineering. Heading in the direction showed on her scanner, Hoshi forced the conflict in her mind to come to an end. She had to do what she was told. If she didn't, the Suliban would surely come to kill her. There was no other choice.

So lost in thought, she barely noticed someone stagger by her, and the wild flashing of her device. Her head snapped up, and the ensign world around in time to see the intruder collapse against a wall nearby. Only a few quick steps were taken until she reached the fallen person. As her eyes landed on the person, Hoshi's breath was forced from her in shock.

She was staring into her own face.


	8. Revealed Deceptions

I've been moderately re-inspired after watching the _Enterprise_ season finale. This story is similar in some aspects – take away an important person, and Earth's future ends. Interesting, huh?

But _Enterprise_ and all its characters don't belong to me in the least. 

*********

"Who the hell are you?" Ensign Sato demanded from the fallen intruder. She was making rapid assessments of the obvious impostor. Whoever it was looked older, with gray streaks shot through her black hair, a lackluster look in her eyes, and weary, worn features. If this person was trying to be a copy of Hoshi Sato, she wasn't doing a good job. 

"I'm you, Hoshi. Only thirty years into your future." The response was calm and informative, as if she expected the ensign to immediately take to this explanation. 

The younger Hoshi's eyes momentarily widened in disbelief, before narrowing. "I can't trust a word you're saying. How you expect me to hear that my future self is right here and take it in like everything's normal?"

"I'll explain in more detail," said the older Sato as she tapped a band around her wrist and the two were transported into Hoshi's quarters aboard_ Enterprise_. "Now that we have some privacy. Reed's patrols would have found us within five seconds."

The ensign had to shake off the feeling of being transported molecule by molecule before confronting the saboteur once again. "I need proof."

"Of course. I know that when the mission first started, your quarters were on the wrong side of the ship according to your training missions. I know that Sub-Commander T'Pol constantly checks behind your back. I know about your partner on Risa, and your difficulty learning his language. I also know that originally your date with Commander Tucker was supposed be three days from now."

Hoshi's demeanor faltered. How could anyone know about those things? Perhaps this person really was her three decades from now. "But why are you here? You must know that the _Enterprise_ is destroyed, so why bother stop it?"

"Because it wasn't supposed to be destroyed. You can tell that time is rejecting this false timeline. Things are changing, correct? You were told the past couldn't change, and it ever so gradually is. I can tell you that most of the crew members survived the mission. In fact, I actually became Hoshi Tucker for a time. But the Cabal tampering with the timeline may have prevented that from ever happening."

*

_Hoshi was visiting with her new grandchild, Charles Tucker V. The sun was shining and you could hear the sounds of San Francisco Bay just over a nearby hill. Trip and their three children were all there, Charlie, Anne and Rachel. Malcolm and T'Pol were even there, their own six children busy with starships or school to come see Charlie's little boy. Elizabeth, his wife, was sitting on a checkered picnic blanket with the baby as they all gathered around talking and joking. _

It was perfect.

But it couldn't stay like that. Crewman Daniels, who stepped into the timeframe whenever there was a problem in the future during her years aboard the Enterprise, appeared_. He was frantic, telling Hoshi that she needed to come with him, or this timeline would be obliterated forever. She scarcely got to say good-bye to her family and friends before Daniels transported her into the future. He explained all that happened, the Suliban destroying _Enterprise_ in 2152, the fall of mankind, and the capture of her past self. _

Then he disappeared, leaving her to be arrested by Suliban troops minutes later. She was locked in a tiny room for years, with no contact to the outside world until Daniels reappeared, a battered wreck. He'd been trying to restore the former timeline, only to fail every time. He gave Hoshi brief instructions and a time traveling device before someone came into the cell and shot down the man. Only days after the corpse had been removed from her presence did she begin to plan.

And finally she completed the ideas for her mission. She knew she had to work quickly, as she could feel her sanity slipping away from the heartbreak of losing her family and the loneliness of her confinement. That was when she began going into the past and changing the timeline.

*

"How can I believe that story?" The ensign demanded. Doubt clouded her mind. Should she believe this person? If it was a lie, it was such an elaborate one, it seem preposterous. 

"Because I know something that will change this timeline forever. Something that will prove that Silik is lying to you about changing the past."

"What is it?" 

The older Sato sighed, closing her eyes. "Wait. Only a few seconds and you'll know the truth. You'll know you have been told lies about this timeline."

Moments later the com system rang into the silence. The voice on the other end seemed to be cracking, saddened by something. "Archer to Sato."

"Sato here." Hoshi was confused, but interested in whatever was to be said that would reveal all this information to be true.

"I thought you'd like to know this, Hoshi, Trip…He just now died in sickbay."


	9. Allies to Enemies

I've been in flashback mode. So, yeah. You get what's gonna happen.

This is short. Yeah. I know.

Review. Pretty please?

*********

Ensign Sato almost fainted. "T-Trip's…dead? Oh, my god…"

"I'm sorry, ensign. I know your were friends with him. The Doctor says that he did everything he could, but between the electric shock, plasma burns, and internal injuries, they all couldn't be healed fast enough."

"Thank you for telling me, Captain. Sato out." Hoshi was shaking. Her kneels buckled and she toppled to the floor. Her stomach twisted up into a knot. The ensign crawled away the best she could on her hands and knees before she vomited on the floor of her quarters. Trip was dead. Trip, who in one timeline she was _married_ to, and in another, gave up his life to try to safe the crew. He was gone. And the thought that came to the surface was Phlox saying he thought Trip had been attacked. "You're the one that attacked him, aren't you? Just to show me that the timeline could be changed!"

"Not quite, Hoshi. Not quite," the older Sato shook her head. "You received a transmission from Silik shortly after the accident, if I'm not mistaken. But he wasn't in the future, as you might expect. He was in a cloaked vessel, right off the bow of the ship. He was trying to capture me…and Trip mistook me for, well, you and saw that I was being attacked. I was so happy to see him again; I failed to help him in time. Silik had disconnected the plasma conduit and attacked Trip before I could help." She bit her lip, the shine of tears in her eyes, "He was trying to rescue me and was killed. That's my Trip…"

*

_"Hoshi! Get the hell off her, you Suliban bastard!" Trip had entered to find the warp core had stabilized itself, but instead found Silik attacking Hoshi. "How the hell did the two of you get in here?" _

Hoshi froze, staring at the face she hadn't seen in years. Her heart clenched as she remembered the last time she saw him. "Trip." She whispered, even as she saw Silik encroaching on him. 

"Ensign, get the hell out of here! That's an order" Only then did it registered that the engineer was being attacked. Trip was in mid-punch when Silik disappeared. He was nearing Hoshi when a plasma conduit above crackled and came loose, swinging into Trip with bone-breaking force. The Commander thudded into a console meters away and slipped down onto the metal floor. 

"Trip! Oh my God, Trip!" Hoshi screamed and moved forward to help. But even as blood was seeping onto the floor under Trip's blackened and burned head and neck, her past counterpart was entering. Forcing herself to tap the mechanism on her arm, glancing a pleading look towards her younger self to help him.

* 

"So, it's Silik's fault Trip's dead?" The younger Hoshi's breaths came in short gasps. She was helping someone who attacked Trip, then said it would all be okay? 

"Hoshi, we don't have much time. I've made the temporal jump too many times and it's taken a toll on me. It may be up to you to stop this ship from being destroyed." 

At that moment, two Suliban officers materialized in a transporter beam. Their weapons fired and the older Sato disappeared with a spine-chilling scream, leaving only a smoldering area on the floor.


	10. Unseen Adversaries

Ahh…So close to the end.

Review your thoughts, folks!

I'm addicted to reviews. -compulsive twitchtwitch-

*********

One of the Suliban turned to Hoshi, who wasn't in the least surprised that he was Silik. _He must have be waiting on another ship…Just like she said…_ She thought to herself as she tried to regain a cool demeanor. 

"What were you doing with that _thing_? Is she polluting your mind with lies?" Silik circled around the ensign, yellow eyes bearing into her. "Nothing she said was true, Sato. Nothing. You are going to do everything exactly as last time, or you will be killed." 

Thoughts raced through her head like wildfire. Trip was dead. Her older self couldn't have been lying. Silik was the one that _murdered_ him. She couldn't do things like last time, definitely not now. She had to avenge Trip, the man she loved or _would_ _have _loved in the future. But now she had to act like she was still with the Suliban, at least try to. "Fine. I'll go down to the planet…and go back with you…and watch _Enterprise_ be destroyed all over again. Fine with me." 

"That woman lied to you, Hoshi. She wasn't you. She was an imposter, trying to confuse you. Remember that. Or die," Silik murmured these words in her ears before walking away and disappearing in the shimmer of a transporter beam.

But the moment the Suliban had gone, the linguist ran out the door. This time, she _was_ going to tell the Captain. She wouldn't be caught. Even though she could feel the eyes burning into her from the bulkheads, she knew that she could make it. She could see the distortions as the invisible Cabal tracked her through the _Enterprise_. 

She paused in the 'lift, glancing around her for the Suliban that was waiting there. The turbolift, slowed to a halt, lights dimming. While the ensign was glancing around, a Suliban materialized and leapt from the ceiling, onto her. She kicked and screamed, but the alien managed to pin her onto the 'lift floor. In one last attempt, the woman knocked her head into her attacker's. 

The Suliban moaned, rolling of Hoshi. Jumping back, she rammed her foot into the aggressor's head, breathing a sigh of relief as the 'lift began moving again. The moment the doors opened, she burst onto the bridge, gasping in breaths of air. 

"Captain! Watch out!" Lieutenant Reed had immediately noticed the Suliban lying semi-conscious on the floor of the turbolift and jumped into action.

Hoshi barely could her breath, walking up to Archer in desperation. "Sir, we…we…have to change our course to take us as far away from Ysus Prime as we can get." 

"Why, Ensign?" Hoshi could tell the Captain had a thousand more questions than that, especially upon seeing the intruder she arrived on the bridge with. She'd tried to clear it all up…

"The Suliban, they're waiting there. There's a ship, just off our bow, I think. They're all over the ship, Captain. And if we go to Ysus Prime, we'll be destroyed."

__

Archer stared down at the woman, trying to absorb the news that she was trying to convey. "Where did you hear this, Hoshi? "

She shot a glance around her as she looked for more Suliban approaching. There had to be more…But she wouldn't let them destroy _Enterprise_ this time. "You wouldn't believe me, sir," Hoshi's assurance was failing. She couldn't fail now! "Please, Captain. I don't ask much. At least do it for Trip. It was a Suliban that attacked him, and that's why he's…That's why he's dead now." 

The commanding officer paused for a moment, before turning to face Ensign Mayweather. "You heard the woman, change course to take us away from Ysus Prime."

The helmsmen had just managed to punch in the new coordinates when half a dozen armed Suliban appeared on the bridge and opened fire. But it was too late…


	11. A Timeline Mended

And it is _completed!_

This is the final chapter.

Enjoy, and, of course, review. Lalala…

*********

"So Crewman Cutler was tellin' Malcolm that Dr. Phlox had a couple of wives, and he got the _funniest_ look on his face, and I swear, he disconnected the wrong circuit and was right about knocked unconscious by an overload! It was the funniest thing. You shoulda seen it!" Trip was seated with Hoshi, telling the story for the first time. This time though, she grinned because she thought the tale was funny, not because she had been missing the engineer.

"Anything else going on?" The ensign picked at her food, no missions on her mind, no futures to worry about.

The commander shook his head. "Not a damn thing. Wish we could find some planet, though."

"I would have thought Risa would have been all the fun you needed, Trip," The incident on the vacation planet had been well told around the ship, much to the two men's dismay, and she enjoyed rubbing it in.

He shoved another bite of food into his mouth before standing up with a chuckle, "Well, Hoshi, I gotta run down to engineering. We've been havin' problems with the anti-matter injectors."

"See you later."

"Let's do this again sometime, alright, Hoshi?" But this time, his reply didn't confuse her. Her answer was quick, made before he even got out the door,

"Five days from now, ah, Saturday night, think you can come over to my quarters? I can cook up a steak or something on my hotplate, if you want. Five o'clock?"

The engineer turned and grinned, nodding. "Sure thing, Hoshi. It's a date."

Hoshi smiled. Not only because of her dinner date with Trip, but because of something she couldn't quite explain. Like someone was so incredibly happy that things were turning out the way that they were supposed to, and they just couldn't hold it in. So even though she didn't fully know why, the ensign smiled.

*********

The moment Ensign Mayweather set the new course, history changed. A blue light engulfed the _Enterprise_, wiping Ysus Prime from its route for good. The timeline was saved…reverted back to before the elder Hoshi Sato or the Suliban chasing her interfered with _Enterprise_. The future was still uncertain, but everything was turning out for the better aboard the starship.


End file.
